The advisers to the interim government have been helpless in discharging their duties on many occasions because bureaucrats are in control, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Saturday.
Accusing the Awami League of destroying the country's education and health sectors, he said a skilled workforce would be required for a rebuild.
"You (advisers) have to create such a workforce. But, unfortunately, speaking from personal experience, if you go to the Secretariat, bureaucrats are at the helm… they decide everything. The advisers are helpless in many cases."
Fakhrul made the remarks while addressing a discussion on social safety at the National Press Club.
Despite these misgivings, Fakhrul hoped concerted efforts could help ensure a better future.
"We hope that, with the efforts they (the advisers) have made and engaging the reform commissions, we can all make a fresh start together and move forward towards a discrimination-free Bangladesh."
Calling for systemic changes, he said, "Nothing will happen sporadically. Hodgepodge policies are not enough. We have to move forward with specific goals and ideas."
For Fakhrul, there is only one way out of this crisis: free and fair national elections.
"If we can form a people's representative government, if we can hold a fair election, if we can form a union parishad, upazila parishad, and parliament through a fair election, then we can create a system that is accountable to the people. That would be ours."
He added with a tinge of humour, "If you plant a brinjal plant, you cannot expect oranges from it."
He also said that debates and arguments regarding reforms have led to some disappointment among stakeholders, with some feeling that vested quarters were resisting rehabilitation.
"If I want to see a progressive society, a fair system to establish the rights of a person, or to reduce the inequality of the people, but see that efforts are being made to divert people's thoughts or to spread extremism, disappointment is natural."
Ganosamhati Andolon Chief Coordinator Zonayed Saki, Nationalist Democratic Movement Chairman Bobby Hajjaj, former BNP MP Rehana Akter Ranu and economist M Masrur Reaz, among others, also spoke at the discussion.
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